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Author: Mansour, Mona E.
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Mansour, Mona E.
Khoury, Jane C.
Kahn, Robert S.
Lanphear, Bruce P.
School Mobility and Increased Behavioral Health Problems in Children Ages 5-14
Presented: Seattle, WA, Pediatric Academy Societies Annual Meetings, 2003
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: American Pediatric Society
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Health; Mobility; School Progress; School Quality

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether children that are school mobile had higher scores on the Behavior Problem Index (BPI) than children who experienced an expected number of school moves.

DESIGN/METHODS: We conducted an analysis involving 3285 five to 14 year old children in the 1996 NLSY survey, a nationally representative sample of mothers and their children. Children were defined as being school mobile if they were age 5-9 and attended 2 or more elementary schools or if they were age 9.1-14 and had attended 3 or more schools. Outcomes were the total standard score of the BPI, as well as the externalizing and the internalizing subscales (mean 100, S.D. 15). Bivariate analyses examined the relationship between various demographic, environmental, and clinical variables known to be associated with the 3 BPI measures and school mobility. Multivariable analyses identified those factors independently associated with behavioral problems. Multiple regresion was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS: 14% of children were school mobile. Mean BPI scores for children that were school mobile were 108.2, 107.8, and 105.5 for the total, externalizing, and internalizing scales respectively, versus 103.7, 103.4, and 102.2 for non-mobile children. School mobile children were more likely to have a non-married mother, a mother with lower levels of involvement at school, and a mother with increased depressive symptoms as measured by the CESD. Maternal percpeption of school quality was lower for school mobile children than school non-mobile children. In multivariable analyses adjusting for demographic, environmental, and clinical variables, school mobility was independently associated with behavioral health problems for the total scale and the externalizing subscale (p<0.01), but not for the internalizing subscale.

CONCLUSIONS: School mobility is independently associated with total and externalizing behavioral problems in children ages 5 to 14. While the cross-sectional nature of the data limits conclusions about causality, policies or programs enacted to reduce school mobility may have a positive impact on behavioral health problems of children. Further research to elucidate this relationship is warranted.

Bibliography Citation
Mansour, Mona E., Jane C. Khoury, Robert S. Kahn and Bruce P. Lanphear. "School Mobility and Increased Behavioral Health Problems in Children Ages 5-14." Presented: Seattle, WA, Pediatric Academy Societies Annual Meetings, 2003.